Courage
by wild4rose7cool
Summary: Stiches no longer scared him. Donnie on the other hand... Warning: contains turtlecest Mikey/Don, Raph/Leo Don't like? Don't read!


Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT and all rights go to the original creators.

Warnings: Contains slash/yaoi (BOYxBOY love) and incest (or _**turtlecest**__)_. Please do NOT read or comment if these things offend you. Don't like? Don't read! Flamers will be ignored and laughed at.

Courage:

The sun hung over the sky lazily, a shimmering orange orb in the distance as the sun set, leaving the warm summer's night hanging in the breeze.

In an isolated part of New York City cinders of burnt leaves hazily hung in the air floating by a fogged window behind which smoke was lazily drifting out.

...

The explosion flung the humanoid turtle through the air to land painfully on his front, embedding glass and dirt and metal into his green skin.

Mikey gasped, out of breath as he was sprayed with a shower of dust and earth, screams echoing behind him.

He struggled to open his eyes, vaguely noticing the room had taken on an orange flickering glow with smoke stinging his blurry vision.

Flames were crackling behind him as a wave of heat sweep over the room, most of the other occupants barely noticing, being caught up in the middle of battle.

As the ground stopped rumbling Mike shakily forced himself to his hands and knees and grazed off some of the debris that had scratched him, coughing, winded from the trip as smoke spiralled out of the crashed machinery behind him.

In the background he spotted Leo against a wall, leaning against it as he clashed swords with a group of Foot, his eyes narrowed as blood steadily ran down his cheek and arm.

It looked like he had been hit by flying rubble from the explosion.

Mikey stumbled up, chucks clenched in his hands as other ninja around him also regained their bearings.

It took them a moment but almost immediately the unseeing eyes refocused on him and charged his way, the Foot living up to their deadly name.

Mikey turned and swung out his arm as the shadowed Ninja approached him, clumsily redirecting one man's sword into the next ones chain and tangling them into a mangled knot.

However his moves were without his usual grace and athleticism as his mind struggled to catch up with his actions.

Somehow Mike managed to jump up and knock the men out with a powerful crack to their heads with his Nunchakus.

Suppressing a tremble he clambered over the cracked concrete and uprooted rocks to join his brother, the summer heat beating down on the infiltrated headquarters making his feet burn and skin slippery with sweat.

It was difficult to fight in normal conditions let alone in difficult tertian and searing summer heat.

Even _Donnie_ didn't have an explanation of why this particular month had been so totally blazing.

"Leo!"

Leo gracefully ducked a blow even while injured and swept the feet out from under several ninja, the impact on the ground enough to knock them out.

He only glanced at the orange-masked ninja for a split second in acknowledgement.

"Are you alright Mikey?" Leo asked lowly as he made sure none of the men were getting back up with intense adrenaline-high eyes, his voice a slight growl as battle-fever settled brightly on his face.

"F..Fine dude"

The elder turtle quickly led them on, both knowing that it was dangerous to stay in one spot on a battlefield for too long.

Leo scrutinised him out of the corner of his eye as they leapt over the burning hunk of metal that had caused the explosion in the first place.

Mikey had cleverly whacked out the fuel tank with a strong strike and the friction that it sparked had caused one shell of a boom.

Of course he _always_ managed all the heroic stuff when none of his bros were around to see it....

"You'll need Donnie to patch you up when we get back to the lair" Leo muttered over his shoulder as they ran with their weapons draw.

Mikey said nothing.

Leo was only muttering and not saying it as a command because he didn't want to be hypocritical.

However Mikey knew it wasn't Leo that made him internally cringe as the other ninja mentioned the purple-masked ninja.

Stiches no longer scared him...

...Donnie on the other hand.......

"Guys!"

Don's cry was barely audible over the gruff sounds of Raph finishing off the last foot soldiers.

They rounded the corner and almost ran straight into their brothers as they hastily regrouped.

There was no doubt that Leo and himself were more hurt.

At the most Don and Raph only had a couple of bruises and scratches.

His pulse leapt as he caught Donnie looking at him concernedly and scrutinizing his condition, much in the way that Leo just had.

Mikey looked away, choosing to focus on his other two brothers and ignore as his stomach dropped in panic.

One mistake now, one distraction and...

He closed his eyes briefly to block out the reality.

"_Fuck_, what da hell happened to ya?" Raph growled brushing some dust off the arm the Leo wasn't bleeding out of.

_There_; Mikey reopened his eyes and found something else to focus on, something to snap him back into action now the adrenaline pumping through him had waned a little.

Mikey knew his big bros well enough to know that a brush on the arm was Raph's little sign of care, something that probably Leo only truly appreciated out of the four of them.

Hidden behind the bright glint that told them Raph was thoroughly enjoying beating up Foot soldiers was a small fleck of golden softness, the subtle tilt of his beak that said that Raph and Leo had the spark of intimacy that many couldn't achieve after years of being in a relationship together...

There had also been a time when Mikey had also had an eye for Leo, where his pulse would have jumped for the blue-masked ninja.

Unfortunately at that time he wasn't the only one.

While Leo remained surprisingly oblivious with the responsibility of leading their family on his shoulders Raph and him as best friends initiated a competition for their big brothers attention, his time and for that extra intensity that entered Leonardo's eyes when his mouth formed a rare smile.

In the end it was obvious who was going to win their little fight.

Mikey could see the extra _something _in Raph's eyes every time he looked at old fearless... and while he had a puppy-crush on Leo, Raph's feelings were deeper.

Mikey's crush didn't last much longer after Raph finally made his move on the eldest.

From what he could tell from the unusual amount of time they now spent together Leo felt the same.

Now as Mikey looked at Don, bruised and scraped and tense as he worked out the technical parts of their mission and eyed the injuries he would have to stitch up later Mikey understood the extra something Raph had in his eyes.

It terrified Michelangelo.

He hated it but at the same time wished that Donnie would look up and think of him as something other than the goofball.

"Hey _Raphie_" Mikey teased refocusing as he made kissy noises while Donnie went to work on wiring so that they could adequately dysfunction the enemies headquarters.

Raph growled at him.

He stubbornly refused to remove his hand from Leo's shoulder who rolled his eyes at both of them.

"Your head is so _fat_ it covers your ears" Mike creatively came up with as he tried to disperse the tense atmosphere as they waited in anxious silence as Donnie worked.

"I'll show you whose head is _really_ fat after I'm done with you" Raph growled whacking him roughly.

"_Ow!_"

Only Raph noticed Leo tensing.

The red-masked ninja glanced at the eldest questioningly.

"Knock it off" Leo snapped as his eyes scanned the room, something suddenly sitting not quite right.

The two stopped bickering to listen over the slight buzz and fizz of Don fiddling with the buildings wires.

...

Sure enough small thumps and a huge number of feet running quietly towards them was clearly heard in the almost silent room.

"We ain't got much time left before company arrives" Raph hissed at the crouched turtle as they gathered around Donatello and drew their weapons, "Either you finish it now or I end up smashing it da old fashioned way"

Sweat trickled down the side of the purple-masked ninja's face and Mikey possibly would have found it alluring if it wasn't for their imminent death predicament and the fact that they all really stunk of sweat, blood and greasy dirt.

Don wiped his forehead as his fingers scrambled over the complicated electronic appliances and wiring.

"Almost done..." he said frowning as his eyes honed in to focus on solving their problem, "just a couple more adjustments and we're out of here"

The footsteps grew louder and the three brothers stood tense, Leo softly uttering a rare curse as the blood tracking down his arm reached his hand and wristband; his wounds bleeding out faster than they were drying and clotting.

Mikey was unable to keep back a slight sway as the heat and blood loss also began to get to him, momentarily hating summer as his knuckles tightened on his weapons, taking a step back and leaning softly on Raph.

"Steady there bro" Raph said quietly as Mikey's eyes slid back to Don and slightly delirious, wondered if Donnie would just kiss his wounds better like he had seen on cartoons.

In his haze the orange-masked ninja wondered what would happen if Donnie and he actually did end up together.

Mikey shifted his gaze to Leo who was on his other side, katanas draw and holding steady even when he was obviously hurt.

He had truly earned his title of 'fearless'.

The eldest brother being with Raph had changed Leo as a turtle but hadn't changed him as a leader.

On a mission there was never any time to think of who was defending who. It was fact that they were going to get injured and separated and in the confusion of things lose each other for a couple of minutes before regrouping.

The rule was to look out for a shell and green skin, it didn't matter which brother it belonged to.

Leo and Raph had personally changed but in the heat of battle things were always the same.

They didn't fight enemies to see how far they could push their roles in the family. It was usually a matter of get in and get out while the adrenaline still flowed.

They worked as a team, made progress and mistakes and in the end kept their heroic and personal lives as separate as possible.

Did that mean it was ok for Mikey to be thinking about how his crouched over brother was sweating and how dark his eyes were when he concentrated at this very moment?

...

"Donnie"

Leo's stern voice was tight as tremors and cracks started to vibrate around them while Don manipulated the buildings electricity.

The built up momentum from several of the buildings support beams being taken out courtesy of Michelangelo and the explosion earlier was starting to take its toll on the structure.

The wall crashed open in front of them and an army of foot ninjas were revealed, only to start wobbling as the building creaked and groaned in protest.

"_Donnie!"_

Leo's voice again, this time more urgent as the building began to collapse over the foot with a pained roar.

The purple-masked ninja didn't answer as he shook his head in panic and frustration, pulling at the rainbow wires.

Screams of crippled men filled the atmosphere and the air was abruptly filled with dust and powdered concrete obscuring their vision.

For a sick moment Mikey compared those gasps to the ones he occasionally heard when Raph and Leo were having some "brotherly bonding" time. The noises were similar yet uttered in a way that made them nothing alike.

Mikey coughed and pressed closer to Raph who was looking around and shifting uneasily, the building beginning to groan and creak once more.

Mikey felt Leo shifting slightly closer to them trying to keep them within his range of sense.

Another explosion ripped through the building, this time from behind them as Don's triumphant tone was drowned out by the screams, confusion and collapsing walls.

"_Donnie!?_"

"We're good to go Leo!"

Mikey felt Leo grasping his arm, confirming that Raph and he were still there and tugged him hurriedly.

"_Move!_"

And then the four of them were running through the haze and over chunks of collapsing wood and concrete and fire as the electricity overloaded blowing up the building courtesy of Donatello's tech skills.

Mike was completely blind and relying on the loose grip of Leo's hands, only assuming his brothers were still there because he was still being tugged along.

More than once he tripped on unseen debris as the haunting roar dragged closer and closer, the building catching up to them with the crush of collapsing walls and a roof.

For a second he swore he heard voices before he went deaf with the noise and could only see the vague shadows of his brothers 2 inches away from him as smoke and dirt covered the air in a thick blinding screen.

Disoriented he didn't realise he was being dragged through the smashed glass of a window until it was already too late and he was flying through the air and landing on top of Leo who skidded on his shoulder taking the full weight of them.

Choking as he vaguely registered that he was winded and that he still couldn't see because of the sudden brightness of the setting sun.

He heard two more thumps and a far softer roar as finally his eyes adjusted to find himself lying shell down on the road outside of the almost entirely collapsed Foot headquarters, the summer sun sweltering and beating down upon him and his three brothers.

He let out a pained gasping breath and received three in return, comforting as his chest heaved in suppressed agony.

Then ...nothing.

8080808

Usually summer was Mikey's favourite season.

There was a lot of food around, it was cool in the lair during the day and warm enough to stay out all night.

Out of his three brothers he knew that he was the only one to really like summer.

Donnie liked spring because it was the season of recreation which fascinated him to no end.

Leo liked winter because of the snow and the city's resemblance of Japan.

Raph liked autumn because more desperate and homeless bad guys came out at night trying to steal and kill to get out of the looming winter.

Now as Mikey sat in front of Donnie a week after the destruction of the foot headquarters he was sure that the summer temperature wasn't really as hot as he felt it to be at the moment.

He was uncomfortable, sweating and on edge as he sat in front of his brother seriously contemplating whether or not to just "spill the beans".

Michelangelo just didn't want to be there.

He wanted to escape to his room to read damp sticky comics marred by sweat and skate around the sewers and fall into the foul but undeniably lukewarm sewage water.

He wanted to wait until midnight and sneak some ice-cream and candyfloss and steaming pizza and throw ice at Raph later on when he had his shell turned.

He just didn't want to be sitting there, awkward with his own brother and his body all tingly and hot with his eyes trained on the floor.

It wasn't right for him to be like this, he was supposed to be the one who didn't think about stupid complicated stuff, he just wanted to forget for just one moment that Donatello existed.

It seemed simple enough for Raph and Leo who he had spotted sneakily playing tonsil hockey a few days ago when everyone else were supposed to be asleep.

It was eerily fascinating to watch his two brothers tongues slid against each other, Raph's hands passionately raking down the back of Leo's shell to his muscular thighs.

Mikey couldn't see where Leo's hands were but judging by Raph's open, pleasured grunt into Leo's mouth they were somewhere where_ his_ were definitely never going to be permitted.

He left as soon as Raph suddenly rolled them over and pounced.

If _Raph and Leo_ could work it out then didn't that mean Mikey had like a _million percent_ chance with Donnie?

The orange-masked ninja gulped.

Donnie glanced at him as he took out the tools he needed to remove stiches.

"Come on Mikey" Don teased gently, "Leo had twice as many stiches and he didn't even break a sweat"

"Leo doesn't have his good looks to worry about" Mikey tried joking weakly hoping that on some level Donnie would rise to the bait.

But of course Donnie just shook his head amusedly and continued on shuffling around and checking his slowly healing wounds.

They had all gotten out of the foot headquarters injured and bleeding but alive.

They got back to the lair filthy and slightly dazed with the help of Casey and April who had been waiting anxiously outside with their truck.

Master Splinter had to help him and Leo have showers before Don stitched up their large bleeding wounds.

The shower floor had been stained with dirt and blood and soiled gear as their Sensei quickly helped wash away the dust and took off four pairs of filthy masks, blood soaked pads and belts and set down four pairs of bloodstained weapons to the side.

Mikey would have been worse off if it hadn't have been for Leo landing on his shoulder after jumping through the window.

Leo also had to have his other arm stitched up and several bruises and deep cuts tended to.

Mikey needed stiches down one side of his leg where he'd managed to hurt himself by tripping over debris and stiches down his side near the edge of his plastron that had been hit by the explosion.

Mikey, in a daze when he'd been getting sewn up had interrupted Don's work and wrapped his arms around his brother's neck to nuzzle his neck and the side of his face.

Don had looked at him strangely and told him off for messing up some stitches.

Afterwards Mikey immediately missed the touch, warmth and closeness he had gotten in those two seconds of happiness.

As Raph's motto went; actions spoke louder than words.

When Don had finished with the two most injured turtles he made sure that both of them sat down to a big meal to replenish the blood that they had lost.

Mike gobbled down food next to Leo while his brother eyed him in distaste, taking much smaller mouthfuls and finally losing the dazed look as the immediate impact of coming back from the battle and getting stitched up sunk in.

Don, after several hours of sufficiently bandaging them all had finally slumped down in the living room, exhausted and they all ended up sleeping in the next morning.

"You ok Mikey? Foot ninja got your tongue?" Don teased lightly as Mike was pulled back into reality while his bro carefully examined the stitching he'd received about a week ago.

"Y...Yeah dude" Mikey said trying not to stutter as Don's hand settled on his side.

_Just tell him_ his heart urged, _he deserves to know_.

_You're outta your shell dude_, his mind told him, _just coz Raph and Leo are riding the love-boat express doesn't make it right!_

...

"....Donnie?"

Don tilted his head looking up at him with his analytical grey eyes.

Mikey had always loved how the four of them had different coloured eyes. Raph's scarlet framed amber, Leo's deep chestnut surrounded by sky, his own ice lined by sunlight orange....Donnie's cloudy grey accented with an intelligent purple mask.

"Yes?"

The orange-masked ninja closed his eyes and opened his mouth just as the words got clogged up in his throat.

He made a strangled noise and waved his arms around.

"Pardon?"

Don raised an eye-ridge.

....

So what if he was the most athletic turtle, so what if he spoke with his heart?

Mikey wasn't as brave or bold as Leo or Raph.

He couldn't do it.

It would have been easier, so much easier as one of his elder bros; Leo would stay cool, calm and in control even if he got rejected and Raph...well Raph would be angry, sulk for a while but would always forgive him in the end even if it somehow messed up their relationship.

But with Donnie, scientific, analytical Donatello... he just didn't know what to do, didn't know if they could still be friends and brothers and teammates and jump out of windows and get stitches together if he messed up.

Donatello who made so many predictions about the world and its wonders was completely impossible to understand.

...

"Mikey...?"

Mikey jumped and stared at his brother

".....nothing, it's nothing dude!"

Don frowned but shrugged regarding his strange behaviour passively.

Mikey quickly scrambled up after Don had finished his ministrations and only vaguely heard the sounds of Don asking him to send Raph in for a check up of the minor cuts he'd patched up.

...Some other time, maybe when it wasn't so hot all the time and he didn't break out in a sweat every time he saw his brother.

It wasn't the right time....he couldn't...wouldn't.

"Uggh!"

Mike slammed the door shut to his room and fell onto his overused sweaty bed.

Something about the heat...it had to be the heat making him like this.

Suddenly summer was no longer his favourite season.

Summer dried the words right out of Mikey's throat.

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